Arsenal priority target Mykhailo Mudryk still favours a move to north London, despite interest from elsewhere, claims Charles Watts.
The Lowdown: Mudryk deal
Arsenal’s well-documented pursuit of Shakhtar Donetsk wonderkid Mudryk is set to potentially hit choppy waters following interest from big-spenders Chelsea.
The Gunners have previously had two bids rejected for the 21-year-old, with the Daily Mail reporting them to be worth £52m and £62m respectively.
But with the Ukrainians holding out for closer to their £88m valuation of the winger, this deal threatens to become a saga.
The Latest: Watts update
With Chelsea’s interest appearing before their clash against Manchester City on Thursday, Watts revealed on his YouTube channel that the Blues' interest could now become more prevalent after their defeat, during which they suffered multiple injury blows.
He said: “Sterling goes off injured after about two minutes and then Christian Pulisic goes off injured as well, so if Chelsea were sniffing around Mudryk before, then you would think that interest is only going to solidify because of those injuries to those two wide attackers that they have.
“The big thing is Mudryk, here; in the middle of it all is, what does he want to do?
“And at the moment, his preference - as far as I’m aware - is to join Arsenal. I mean, he’s made that abundantly clear; he couldn’t make it any more clear with his actions on social media over the course of the last couple of days.
“The ball's in Arsenal’s court in a way, but I think just the fact that Chelsea are there, hovering on the horizon, we know the financial power they have and we know the way they are certainly operating in this transfer market since the takeover.
“It would be no surprise to see them put down the sort of offer that Shakhtar are demanding and that Arsenal, at the moment, are not putting up themselves.”
The Verdict: Turning into a saga
One thing that Arsenal wouldn’t have wanted to happen to this deal was for it to turn into a saga, and now with the Blues' interest in the player, that’s exactly what it threatens to become.
Chelsea have spent obscene amounts of money since the takeover by Todd Boehly and splashed out €62.5m (£54.4m) already this January window.
With a deal now looking like failing for Enzo Fernandez - with reports claiming they must cough up his €120m (£105m) release clause to sign him - that cash could be spent on Mudryk following the injuries to two key wingers.
As Watts said, Arsenal remain in the driving seat and are still favourites to sign the 21-year-old, but with an asking price they’ll struggle to match, we think this one will rumble on.